Sunday, November 9, 2014

Another successful match day for Oxford Sharks!

Due to the injury of Sharks' excellent setter (and an overall fantastic player) Felipe and the absence of our very own 'chocolate queen' (and a phenomenal player!) Karina, the team had to adjust their line-up. After numerous e-mail and face-to-face discussions, and a couple of test games on Thursday, the captain Andrey settled on the following: Helen & Tomas for the 'middle', Andrey & Flora for the 'outside', Stefano for setting and Izzy to play opposite. This line-up worked well, the team played great volleyball and demonstrated their usual fighting spirit which resulted in two wins on the day, each in 2 sets! Well done Sharks!

Sharks vs Spikeos 3

The games started with Sharks losing a serve, after which the teams traded a few points until Tomas got hold of the ball at 4:4. On his service Sharks got ahead by 2 points, then lost a point, then again won 2 points on Andrey's serve and from that point on the game pretty much continued in the same way until the end of the set at 25:19 to Sharks! It always takes a bit of time for Sharks to get up to speed, this set was no exception - only really by the end of the set Sharks seemed to start playing their usual level of volleyball.

The first half of the second set the teams were neck and neck until about when the score went into double digits, and then fantastic consistent service from Flora, Tomas and Izzy put Sharks so far ahead of the competition that Spikeos 3 seem to have given up and lost the set at 25:13.
 
MVP: Izzy

Sharks vs Spikeos 1

Sharks' assessment of the competition put Spikeos 1 in the first place in terms of how challenging the teams would be. This proved to be accurate, Spikeos 1 had 3 strong hitters and 2 good ladies + 1 phantom lady player. However, this did not present a serious challenge for Sharks in the first set, from the start Sharks were leading by 5 points mainly due to excellent serve by Stefano. Spikeos never really caught up with Sharks, comfortable set for Sharks ended at 25:22.

Early on in the second set Sharks got in trouble. Andrey called a time-out at 0:5, Sharks re-set themselves quickly and started fighting back. Spikeos did not give up and kept pressing hard, and the score reached 2:13 to Spikes! Then the Sharks finally defended well and scored a point, and Tomas got hold of the ball on the serve. Consistent serve and a fantastic team effort followed, and now the Sharks are close behind 9:13. More fighting and good effort on both sides, Sharks class and great team psychology eventually brought them up to 21:21. Now it's about who has better nerves... and it was Sharks of course, which they demonstrated numerous times before. As our team name suggests, Sharks know no pain, and no fear! The team pulled forward as one - a warrior spirit at its best! The final score for the set is 25:23 to Sharks!
 
MVP: Flora

Written by Andrey

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